Current technology advances at a dizzying pace. Our daily live becomes increasingly connected and is now viewed as a commodity. But not all new products are as inspirational and surprising as it may seem.
A new generation of TV sets may shock you more likely when looking at their price or shape rather than the amazing density of pixels. Moreover, no one cares that mobile devices can actually set the trajectory of a spacecraft travelling to Mars.
It is not surprising that photos of nude Kim Kardashian caused almost as much hype as the landing of the probe on the comet at a distance of 400 million kilometers away from Earth.
This is a side effect of a technology overdose. We are much less cautious about our security and generally do not think about the scale of threats – neither real nor theoretical. Interestingly, the more sophisticated and developed the technology and the Internet becomes, the more dangers await us. What are those future dangers? Let’s try to figure out.
Smart things
Smart homes are still beyond the reach of the average person. But thanks to the ubiquitous giants of technology, such as Google or Apple, in a few years, many of us will be sitting in rooms full of smart equipment. Many mobile devices enable us to control the climate, lighting, home security system and household appliances via the Internet already now.
The same concept applies to cars. Tesla, BMW, Volvo and others offer the basic unmanned driving functions and the possibility of controlling your car with a smartphone. In the next few years, many middle-class models are likely to be equipped with such a function as standard. Moreover, the cost of using this technology is incomparably less than the cost of a car.
Despite the progress of technology, some systems still have a lot in common with conventional locks. No matter how smart the system is – after a strong strike at sensitive points, the lock can be opened in the blink of an eye. In addition, everything can be even easier when the malefactor has a key or even just the possibility of getting it. Using a smartphone as a master key, a hacker can easily access the home or car in minutes or even seconds.
After gaining access to the central control system, the offender may perform certain tasks. For example, he can close people in a room, interfere with the heating system, change the composition of drinking water, or even control the steering and braking system of a car. And all this can be done remotely, without having direct access to the buttons or systems.
Money of the future
The time of classic bank robbers who use weapons, hostages and special cars have passed. They have been replaced by people who know how to exploit vulnerabilities in online banking and payment systems.
The proliferation of digital payment systems instead of cash is a holiday gift for cyber criminals. It is much easier to manipulate information than to deal with real objects.
Private data
The days when family heirlooms were stored in one large cardboard box, and our videos, music and other content on removable media and hard drives, are long gone. Today, more and more Internet users store personal data in the cloud. In many cases, the amount of this data exceeds the total amount of all data on physical disks.
After a few years, local storage systems are likely to turn into a relic of the past. The logic of following the trend is as follows: why clog the Ultrabook disk space, if everything can be stored in the cloud and you can have access to all files from anywhere in the world?
However, there is a problem here: if your data – photos, documents, videos, and correspondence are in the cloud, they will no longer belong only to you. The website owner has the right to use them. You can read Terms of Service pages of Facebook or Google and you will find that they can do almost anything with your data. It was already so 5 years ago and, in the future, it might get even worse.
In the next few years, companies like Google are likely to have complete digital models\identities of billions of people who use the Internet. Moreover, it is possible that the data on your health, lifestyle, visited places will be attached to tons of selfie photos and instant messages. You do like to check-in at popular places, don’t you?
Future issues
These days some people search Google for the best vpn rating lists and try to protect themselves from digital surveillance using various anonymization software. But Internet monitoring and control is not the only problem. You must add here serious threat from constantly evolving malware, as well as the complete irresponsibility and ignorance of other users. We can say that our future is probably a very structured, complex, and evil world. In this world, a city can plunge into chaos at the touch of a button, people belong to corporations, and a 15-year-old hacker can steal billions of dollars thanks to a typo in the code of the online banking system.
Do you remember the game “Watch Dogs” or “Die Hard 4” with Bruce Willis? Both have important common elements: a city is controlled by a single command system, and an evil person has gained unlimited access to almost all electronic devices. A lot of things that happen in the film and the game are already happening – and that is scary.
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